Philippine Navy Receives Submarine Training From France's DCI Group - Naval News

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Philippine Navy Receives Submarine Training From France’s DCI Group
A number of Philippine Navy officers are receiving submarine training in France, with DCI Group. The formation started in 2019 in Brest. Its goal is to assist the Philippines as the country is looking to set up its own submarine force from scratch.
Xavier Vavasseur 04 Nov 2022

The Philippine Navy is aiming at creating a submarine force. They are considering proposal from both France’s Naval Group and South Korea’s DSME. Naval News understands that the submarine training provided by DCI Group is generic and platform agnostic but bring “French operational expertise” because DCI instructors are experts retired from the French Navy.

Today, DCI provides consulting and training to the Philippine Navy as they build their submarine force. Initial assistance services on the operational deployment of submarines and organizing a submarine force began in 2019 and are ongoing in Brest, France. DCI is the only global player with a proven international record of accomplishment in submarine capability building and benefiting from the “French label”.


DCI Group statement
During an interview with Naval News in January 2022, the Chief of the Philippine Navy, Admiral Vice Admiral Adeluis S. Bordado stated:

“In 2015, we started forming the so-called submarine group of the Philippine Navy. We are actually starting to train our personnel, even though we don’t have the submarine. Because we have learned that in order to have a good submarine force we should start with our personnel. So, slowly we’re training our personnel to have the competency to handle or to operate submarines in the near future”.

Since the 2000s, DCI has supported submarine forces in many Asian and Latin American countries with its comprehensive capability-building offer.

DCI has trained more than 1,500 foreign officers and submariners in its naval branch, NAVFCO, in France and abroad. DCI uses modern simulation tools to train submariners across all specialties: submarine operations and conduct, platform health and safety, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), communications, electronic warfare, maintenance and logistics, etc.

DCI experts support partner submarine forces through onshore (training centers) and at sea (on their own submarines) training so their crews can train individually, in teams, and as full crew. This incremental approach allows trainees to acquire skills progressively as they work toward a complete mastery of new platforms in what are extremely complex operational environments and scenarios. In total, DCI has trained seven Scorpène crews in France or in client countries: Chile (2002-2005), Malaysia (2004-2019), India (2016-2018), and Brazil (2018-present).